Death Ascension - Chapter 113

“HAAAHH?!”

Mikael and Deon reacted the same way to Finn’s suggestion.

‘Sh*t what was I expecting? This is Finn that we are talking about.’ Mikael drifted in circles, ‘Since when did he give us normal answers? Heck! His methods are always unorthodox. We should’ve seen this coming.’

Somehow, this whole situation felt like a déjà vu.

Only then did they remember that the eccentric Sir Finn asked Deon to become his bait—on their first meeting, even.

“My liege…”

“Yes, Dame?”

“Can I punch him? Please give me permission to punch him.” Nora cracked her knuckle, “With my metal arm.”

“Oi! Have you forgotten who gave you that arm? How dare you use my child to threaten me?!” Finn rudely pointed at Nora’s prosthetic arm while scooting away from her.

The young prince looked at them and heaved a deep sigh.

“Sir Finn. May I know your reasoning? I don’t think you said it out of spite for me as I believe I’m not that bad of a superior… or am I?” Deon was suddenly struck with self-doubt.

Before the conversation went in a strange direction, Finn traced his finger on several lines of information.

< Only young boys were kidnapped prior to the report suspecting a pedophile.

Since then, the frequency of female child abductions increased.

The detectives were then forced to retract their statement and concluded that it might be the work of a slave-trading organization.>

“The answer is right here, your highness.” Finn tapped the paper as if to reiterate.

“Uhmm? W-where?” the prince did not understand what Finn was trying to say.

On the other hand, Mikael felt like he was smacked upside the head at this revelation.

“HOLY F*CKING HELL?! WHY DIDN’T I REALIZE THAT?!” the ghost restlessly glided around the confused prince, strongly tugging his hair as if to reprimand himself.

Hearing Mikael’s curses and seeing Finn’s self-satisfied look, Deon wondered whether he was the only idiot in the room.

He subtly glanced at Nora to see whether she understood the Almagi’s hint, but she looked equally puzzled.

‘I’m glad. It means I’m not as stupid as I feared I was.’ The young prince sighed in relief.

He then faced Finn and asked, “Can you explain more clearly, sir?”

‘Huh? That’s weird… maybe it’s not there?’ Finn narrowed his eyes to look into Deon’s, ‘Ah…No wonder. It’s not there. Oh, well.’

Finn leaned back into the couch and spoke with a disinterested voice, “It means the criminal reads newspapers, your highness.”

That was when understanding dawned on the young prince.

“Ah! So, you’re saying the criminal purposely kidnapped girls to lead the investigators astray?”

“Yes. And by simple deduction, it is highly likely that the criminal is indeed a pedophile. A pedophile who likes–” Finn raised a lethargic hand and pointed at the prince, “Young. Boys. Like you.”

Goosebumps erupted in Deon’s arms when he realized the meaning of Finn’s suggestion.

A sting operation**.

One that involved endangering a royalty.

Deon would lure the criminal out of their hiding place, catching them and rescuing the abducted children in one fell swoop—assuming that he doesn’t die in the process.

“ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!” Nora grabbed Finn by the collar and stared into his eyes with a murderous expression, “How could you even think to propose that?!”

Finn sighed, rolling his eyes as he did so.

“Dame, I know you’re protective of his highness, but this is too much. He came here to ask for my advice, so I gave him one. It’s not like I am forcing him to do it.”

Nora loosened her hold of Finn.

He was right.

He only gave their liege the advice he deemed to be the most effective given their one-month deadline. He was just being helpful to the best of his abilities.

Compared to him, Nora felt like she was useless.

Her desire to help Deon was so strong yet she could do nothing but to escort him in his home visitations.

“Kid, I agree with Finn.” Mikael said to the quiet Deon, “Rather than blindly chasing after the elusive criminal, we should make them come to us.”

“But… even if we go through with this plan, there’s no guarantee that the criminal will come out.” Deon weakly replied.

He was scared.

He was already kidnapped as a child and he was not eager to repeat the experience.

It didn’t occur to him that he would need to go through such a situation again— This time voluntarily coming into contact with a vile person who burns their victims alive. A murderer who kills innocent children.

The young prince recalled Julia Brooks’ statement.

<Monsters ate them whole… she felt a searing pain that burned her alive…>

Anxiously chewing the inside of his cheek, Deon searched for anything he could use to dissuade his ghost partner.

His gaze rested on the case record.

“Ah! Sir Mikael, I-I’m too old!” the boy chimed through direct messaging, “I can’t be bait because I don’t fit the criminal’s criteria!”

Indeed, under normal circumstances, Deon would never be a prospective target.

However…

“Didn’t the criminal abduct girls to throw detectives off their trail? That means the criterion is fairly flexible. We just need to provide them a reason to kidnap you.” To the prince’s utter dismay, Mikael had already thought of a plan, ‘For that, we will use the same tactic against them.’

Mikael then noticed his partner’s crestfallen face.

It was clear that the prince was unwilling, but Mikael thought there were no better alternatives to Finn’s suggestion.

So, he decided to console the kid instead.

“Don’t worry. You have me, remember? I will never let you die.” He said in a soothing voice, “Besides, don’t you want to win the bet with your father?”

“Hngh…” Deon fought with himself for a moment before replying, “Fine. I’ll trust you with my life, Sir Mikael.”

“Great. Now give me your body.”

“Huh? W-why?”

For some reason, Deon felt nervous at Mikael’s words.

“What? I need to talk to Finn.”

“Ah… I see.”

–Chapter end–

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**A sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person attempting to commit a crime.. Commonly, Sting operations are done to catch drug dealers by posing as potential buyers.